Brighstone Again!

Finally back in Brighstone for a week of dog-sitting having been put off for two years due to Covid-19 restrictions. The heat wave has abated and we have had a week of sunshine, showers and drizzle. Perfect! Rosie, who I normally look after, is now old and arthritic and cannot walk far anymore, but there is a new addition in the form of Monty the black and white Collie puppy, who is about a year old, fully grown and a proper attention seeker. Just like a toddler.

We have done a variety of walks around the Coombe Lane area, as follows:

Limerstone Down

Up Coombe Lane to the end of the cottages, follow the footpath around until it becomes a tunnel of trees and follow that to the perpendicular junction at the top of the incline. Turn left and follow the increasingly steep path up to the top of Limerstone Down where it meets Brighstone Forest. Wander about in the forest for a while then follow the main path to Lynch Lane and walk back down the hill, stopping to pick wild apples and blackberries along the way.

Rowborough Down Reservoir

Up Coombe Lane to the end of the cottages, then turn right and through a gate leading uphill. Check if there are sheep present if your dog is off the lead. Follow the path uphill (it's quite steep!) to a set of double gates at the top. Once through these you can turn left and follow a level path - excellent for stick throwing - to the end of the field and either go downhill or retrace your steps. Back at the gate you can continue straight on, which will lead you to a path where you turn left to make your way either back to Coombe Lane or up to the top of Limerstone Down, or turn right and follow the path to the village. You could also turn right at the gate and choose either a steep path downhill or a slightly shallower path down through a gully. Both will take you to the village.

Grammars Common and the Longstone

Follow Lynch Lane downhill to a turning on your right (BS83), keeping the dog on the lead until you are past the houses, then along the footpath (BS56), avoiding the turning for Gaggerhill Farm (BS65) and along the road until you get to a footpath on your right leading to Gaggerhill (BS64). Follow this to a lane, turn right and keep going until you see the footpath for Grammars Common on your left. Turn here, follow the path uphill pausing to admire the view at the top before going into the woods at Grammars Common. Follow the well-signposted path through the woods, across a field leading downhill to Strawberry Lane. Beware of cows. Cross the road and turn right before shortly turning left and following the path to the Longstone. Pause here for a while and enjoy the peace and quiet, take in the views, and have a swig of mead if you remembered to bring some (we didn't). You have choices here; we chose to retrace our steps to Strawberry Lane, walk uphill and then down Lynch Lane, but you could also pick up a path that leads to the top of Mottistone Down and from there head either to Brook Down or back to Lynch Lane or through Brighstone Forest. Choices galore, all glorious.

Strawberry Lane car park to Mottistone

We had a cunning plan, and popped the dog in one car and drove both cars to the National Trust car park near Mottistone Manor, then drove the one with the dog in to the National Trust car park at the top of Strawberry Lane. Slight change to our plan here as there was a herd of cows baby the gate, so we scooted into the forest to the right and followed the path uphill and emerged near the top of Westover Down. Here we climbed on top of a hillock, probably a tumulus as there are several here, and surveyed the view. We could see the Solent to our north, the aenglish Channel to the west and south, and the entire west coast of the island stretching away below us.

We wandered back down the hill briefly before turning right and heading steeply downhill and following a small path until it met a broad official path that led through a gate. The dog found a very long branch which he decided to take with him! This path met others, so we turned left and headed for the longstone, and then right and downhill again, through woods, and then to the car park. Glorious!

Brighstone

Today was dog-walking day, training me for dog-sitting with a boisterous young collie in the summer. We walked down Lynch Lane towards Brighstone, turning right onto a footpath which headed along a dappled lane, through a gate and a sharp right turn alongside a paddock. The path then split, with the right hand path heading towards Gaggerhill Farm, or continue straight on towards Moortown. We took the latter route, then picked up another footpath which led to Gaggerhill avoiding the farm. From there we walked uphill towards Grammars Common and had a lovely shady amble through the pine woods, with a steep climb at one point, and discovering a clearing that had an abandoned campsite later on. No tents, just the remains of a fire and some rusting cooking equipment.

We continued on and came out onto a footpath near Black Barrow (buried under rhododendrons), and crossed a field to come out on Strawberry Lane. Glorious! The verges and banks were covered in wildflowers, with lots of pyramidal orchids in particular. We strolled up the hill in the sunshine, avoided getting run over by tourists who were blindly following their satnavs, and got to the top where we paused to catch our breath and admire the view. The West Wight truly is gorgeous. We turned right at the top and headed back down Lynch Lane towards Brighstone and lunch.

Brighstone Down

After spending yesterday on the sofa under a fluffy blanket, listening to the rain, watching 'Call the Midwife', and eating biscuits and Welsh cakes, I thought that I ought to get some fresh air and exercise today. I set off for Brighstone and parked at the car park at the top of Lynch Lane, next to Strawberry Lane.

Coming out of the car park, I turned right and then picked up a footpath on the opposite side of the road and bimbled along it to see where it went. I hadn't brought a map. More on that later! I stopped periodically to gaze through my binoculars at hovering kestrels and soaring buzzards, riding the wind in the sky above me. Glorious. Wish I could do that! The path led on, passing Brighstone Forest on the left and showing glorious views along the west coast on the right. I never tire of that view. 

I paused for a while to sit on a stile and gaze across the countryside and seascape below, before continuing on towards a viewpoint showing the distance to lots of different places on the Island and around the world, and then past cattle sheds belonging to Cheverton Farm and a beautiful herd of cattle (all different colours), where I paused to lean on the gate and admire them for a while.  I was later overtaken by a family of mountain bikers and later I found a sign for the 'Devil's Spine', part of a mountain bike trail run by the farm. 

I turned back shortly after the cattle, and met a lady and her puppy; we had an interesting conversation about our mutual lack of skill at photography while her puppy bounced up and down next to me. Next, I turned along a footpath that led into the forest, assuming it would head for Lynch Lane. It did, in a roundabout way! I had no map, as mentioned earlier, and managed to get myself turned around. Having found a broader, stonier path than the rather damp one I was following, I began walking along it, not entirely sure in which direction I was going. That was fine; I was ambling up a hill and spotted a hare feeding on the grass and got quietly excited as I had never seen one before. Wow! I was glad I had the binoculars as I got a really good look at it without getting to close and scaring it off. Shortly after that I met another lady who informed me that I'd end up in Carisbrooke if I continued in that direction, so i turned round and found myself back at the car park fairly soon afterwards.

This was a lovely, gentle walk with magnificent landscapes, cloudscapes and seascapes, and lots of wildlife to spot. I saw several birds that I cannot identify, lots of insects, and there was an abundance of wild flora. I'll have to wander back soon and gather hazelnuts and sweet chestnuts. It was also good to see evidence of the forest being managed, with coppicing of sweet chestnuts evident.

Route: https://gb.mapometer.com/walking/route_4798056.html

Distance: approx. 5 miles

Brighstone

Well, we have had weeks of unending sunshine so today my friend and I decided to go for a walk. It thundered and rained. Of course. However, the thunder was exciting and the rain refreshing so all was good. 

We started off in Lynch Lane and headed for the footpath to Moortown (I think that's right; on the right as you head downhill past Coombe Lane), and followed it towards and round Gaggerhill Farm, where we observed some noisy dogs and beautiful horses. The rain started just as we turned into the lane next to the house and we dodged right to a footpath that took us uphill under the trees towards Grammar's Common. This turned out to be a private ("This is not common land") woodland and red squirrel sanctuary, but the footpath went through and we enjoyed the peace and stillness within. At one point we heard a woodpecker and managed to track the noise to three possible trees but could not see the bird itself. Fun looking for it though!

The path led on, out of the woods and down to Strawberry Lane. Here we turned right and picked up a footpath that led to the Long Stone, alongside Castle Hill. We paused in the rain to admire the Long Stone, then detoured to the left and up to the top of Castle Hill to admire the view. One of my favourites, showing the coast from Blackgang Chine to Tennyson Down, even on a cloudy, hazy day like today. We then doubled back and followed the path down through the woods to come out by Mottistone Manor. The manor was not open to the public today, so we crossed the road and prowled around the churchyard, which is a thriving haven for wildlife, and had a look inside the church itself. This is a rather lovely example of a small, country church, and had an interesting display about 'Warrior', the horse that inspired the novel "Warhorse", as he belonged to local landowners. 

We had run out of footpath so we followed the road back to Brighstone in search of a cup of tea, only to find that the once famous cream tea shops had disappeared, so we had a cuppa in the Three Bishops pub instead, and bought an ice cream from the village shop. And a Belgian bun. Oops. We did have a slight detour on the way, having seen a signpost that said village centre half a mile; we followed it over a stream (played Pooh sticks on the bridge), and came out on a housing estate with no indication of where to go, so we retraced our footsteps to the main road. After tea, we decided to head back to Lynch Lane, and found another footpath that led over the downs and through a sheep field to Coombe Lane, which we followed passing several stone cottages until we were back in Lynch Lane. Lovely walk!

Route: https://gb.mapometer.com/walking/route_4782839.html 

Distance: 6 miles

Pot Bellied Pig

Unusual clouds before thunder storm

Long Stone

Ordnance Survey Bench Mark on Mottistone Church wall

Brighstone stream